Horse Creek Howls

Recorded on 3/7/11 @ approximately 01:15

The first vocalization came from a little east of north. I froze and listened as a second vocalization came from the same source, at approximately the same volume. A few moments later, a louder and clearer vocalization came from what appeared to me as slightly more east, and higher on the hillside on the other side of the valley. Bobo soon made a call, and another vocalization came from under Bobo’s call, resulting in the last call not being heard clearly. Ranae and Bobo verified that they heard the calls, but interestingly, they heard the first two loudly, and the third and fourth calls barely at all. The last call was not heard by them because Bobo was vocalizing.

Both teams quickly took compass bearings of the directions of the vocalization source. Using triangulation on a topo map, I found the likely location of the callers to be about a half mile east and a bit north of Bobo and Ranae’s location. Matt and I made our way to the valley floor, but as the episode showed, our efforts to film the creatures was not successful. I was elated, though. The producers and camera guy were both blown away, and the excitement in the air was tangible. There’s nothing quite like loud, clear vocalizations emanating from the dark!